HDP wants to see greater Russian role on Kurdish issue

Moscow needs to become more involved in the Kurdish issue, Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), has said during a five-day visit to the Russian capital.

Russia does not generally contact Kurds directly, but prefers doing this via Turkey, Demirtaş told dailies Sputnik and Kommersant, Cihan news agency reported.

"Such an approach by Russia should be left in the past. The approach of the Turkish officials have already changed," he was quoted as saying, as he highlighted Turkey's 20-month efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish bid.

Demirtaş said the issue would be discussed in his contacts with Russian Foreign Ministry officials.
Demirtas was pleased that Kurdish proposals regarding the settlement of "a number of Middle East issues," had been met with interest in Moscow and that Russia had expressed a will to broaden communication, Sputnik said. "This is especially important today because it should be taken into account that unfortunately, Kurdish diplomatic initiatives and meetings so far have not been held on such a high level," it quoted the politician as saying.

"Kurdish attempts to establish fair and equality-based relations with other nations, [relations that would be] far from being nationalist or racist, are not receiving due understanding from the international community," he reportedly said.

The Turkish government categorically closed the door on the involvement of any third party in the peace process in November, which it labels as its brainchild.

"This process is a local process," Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan said Nov. 16, speaking of the process aimed at ending the three-decade-long conflict between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party ...